ONE FRIENDLY ACT

One day,when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid

from my class was walking home from school.His name was

Kyle.It looked like he was carrying all of his books.I

thought to myself,"Why would anyone bring home all his

books on a Friday?He must really be a nerd."I had quite a

weekend planned(parties and a football game with my

friends tomorrow afternoon),so shrugged my shoulders and

went on.As I was walking,I saw a bunch of kids running

toward him.They ran at him,knocking all his books out of

his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.His

glasses went flying,and I saw them land in the grass

about ten feet from him.He looked up and I saw this

terrible sadness in his eyes.My heart went out to him.

So,I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking

for his glasses,and I saw a tear in his eye.As I handed

him his glasses,I said,"Those guys are jerks.They really

should get lives." He looked at me and said,"Hey thanks!"

There was a big smile on his face.It was one of those

smiles that showed real gratitude.I helped him pick up

his books,and asked him where he lived.As it turned out,

he lived near me,so I asked him why I had never seen him

before.He said he had gone to private school before now.

I would have never hung out with a private school kid

before.We talked all the way home,and I carried his books

for him.He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.I asked him

if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my

friends.He said yes.We hung all weekend and the more I

got to know Kyle,the more I liked him,and my friends

thought the same of him.Monday morning came,and there

was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.I stopped him

and said,"Boy,you're gonna really build serious muscles

with this pile of books everyday!"He just laughed and

handed me half the books.Over the next four years,Kyle

and I became best friends.When we were seniors,we began

to think about college.Kyle decided on Georgetown,and I

was going to Duke.I knew that we would always be friends,

that the miles would never be a problem.He was going to

be a doctor,and I was going for business on a football

scholarship.Kyle was valedictorian of our class.I teased

him all the time about being a nerd.He had to prepare a

speech for graduation.I was so glad it wasn't me having

to get up there and speak.On graduation day,I saw Kyle.

He looked great.He was one of those guys that really

found himself during high school.He filled out and

actually looked good in glasses.He had more dates than me

and all the girls loved him.Boy,sometimes I was jealous.

Today was one of those days.I could see that he was

nervous about his speech.So,I smacked him on the back and

said,"Hey,big guy,you'll be great!" He looked at me with

one of those looks(the really grateful one)and smiled.

Thanks," he said.As he started his speech,he cleared his

throat,and began. "Graduation is a time to thank those

who helped you make it through those tough years.Your

parents,your teachers,your siblings,maybe a coach... but

mostly your friends.I am here to tell all of you that

being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give

them. I am going to tell you a story." I just looked at

my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the

first day we met.He had planned to kill himself over the

weekend.He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so

his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his

stuff home.He looked hard at me and gave me a little

smile."Thankfully,I was saved.My friend saved me from

doing the unspeakable."I heard the gasp go through the

crowd as this handsome,popular boy told us all about his

weakest moment.I saw his mom and dad looking at me and

smiling that same grateful smile.Not until that moment

did I realize it's depth.Never underestimate the power of

your actions.With one small gesture you can change a

person's life.For better or for worse.God puts us all in

each other's lives to impact one another in some way.